Eufus s



ItUFlIS S. SANBORN, -OF RIPON, WISCONSIN.

Letters' Patent No. 76,948, dated April 21, 1868.

IMPEOVEMENT :uv WATER-VESSELS EOE' EIEE-EEOOE SEEE.

alge ,sfigata aterra u in tipa trtttrs rturt mit nuttig put at tige stmt.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONClllRl':

Be it known that I, RUFUS S. SA-NBORN, of Ripon, in the county of Fond du Lac, and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Water-Vessel for SteamFire-Proof Safes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and correct description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in

Which- Figure-1 is a front view, in perspectivc,`ot` an open safe with my improved water-vessels applied.

This invention relates to the elass of fire-proof safes invented and patented by me, in which water-vessels provided with steam-valves are introduced into or within the walls of the safe.

It not uncommonly happens during a fire that a safe is thrown from its position, and falls upon its side or turns bottom upwards. If no provision were made in steam fire-proof safes against the effects of such contingencies, the steam-valves might sometimes be below the surface of the water, and possibly at the very lowest point of the water-vessels, when the watercontained in them, on which thc supply of steam depends, would be driven out, and the peculiar advantages of the system of steam protection be entirely lost. In steam-safes, therefore, it is essential that the valve or opening for the escape of steam from the water-vessels should, in ,all positions of the safe, be above the water-line, so that steam alone should escape from it, and the water be retained in the vessel as long as possible. l l

To attain this object I have used a tube extending from a point on the perimeter of the vessel to its mathematical centre, the outer opening of said tube being closed by a valve or fusible plug, and the vessel beinghalf filled with water. This arrangement retains the water in the vessel in all positions of the safe, and` keeps the escape-valve always above the water-line, but halt` the capacity of the vessel is lost, and in the same pro. portion the period during which steam can be'generated, and the protective eiiciency of 'the safe maintained, is diminished. i

In the present invention, which is`an improvement on thatjust mentioned, I effect the desired object, while keeping the water-vessels entirely full of water, by hanging the vessels, valve uppermost, to the walls of the safe, from a point of suspension placed above theirA centre of gravity, a'nd allowing them freedom of motion about this point, so thatin any position ofthe safe a majority ofthe vessels will have their escape-valves above the surface of the water. The only exceptions would be in the case of the vessels which happened to occupy thc top or bottom place in any given position of the safe.

In the accompanying drawing, A marks the outer wall of a safe; B, thedoor; C C C G, the suspended metallic water-vessels, which I prefer to make circular in form. Their shape, size, and thickness, will depend on the character and dimensions-of the safe in which they are employed. They are provided with openings, o, at top, through which they are filled with water, and through which steam escapes when the water is heated to boiling. These openings may be closed with fusible plugs or spring-valves, as preferred. i

The vessels are suspended to the sides, top, bottom, and door of the safe as represented, by a pin or bolt, a, passing through a water-tight tube in the vessel into the Wall ofthe safe. The pointl of suspension is far enough above the centre of gravity of the vessel to insure its promptly moving, inA obedience to the force of gravitation, on any change in the position of the safe, and near enough to the centre of the vessel to secure its rotation in the smallest space compatible with the accomplishment of the desired object. By weighting the lower part ofthe vessel, the point of supeusion-may be made to coincide with the centre of the vessel, if preferred, and thus all ecccntricity in its rotation be avoided I Having thus fully described my improvement, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- A water-vessel for steam iire-proof safes, suspended to the wall ef the safe, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

The above specification of my said invention signed and witnessed at Boston, this 12th day of September',

v RUFUS'S. SANBORN Witnesses:

WILLIAM C. CLEVELAND, CnAs. F. STANsBUnr. 

